Surprise
by Letzte
Summary: Makoto visits Noel and persuedes her to do something nice for Jin... Noel has her misgivings. Slight as in tradition  Jin/Noel.


**A/N: So, it's been a whole month since I last put something on here... Ha. Wow. (Well, I did put on that one fic, buuuut... That was a complete failure anyway so I'm ignoring it.) But I couldn't really help it, this was so hard to write! Well, it was mostly Jin's fault. He seems to genuinely hate Noel, so... Yeah. That made writing this really difficult. Then when I finally thought I had it, Noel seemed a little off, too. In the end, I ACTUALLY TOOK NOTES on their behaviors...(Four pages! I'm such a loser!) So I'm anxious to see what you all think about it.**

At the beckoning of the sunlight streaming through the window, Noel opened her eyes, the feeling of dull confusion a person gets when they wake up in an unfamiliar place washing over her. She lifted her hand to block the sunlight, and the vents of the pat few days rushed back into her mind. Noel groaned and closed her eyes again, willing the thoughts from her brain. Thinking about it only really ever brought her pain and confusion.

She propped herself up and crawled out of bed, taking a few moments to stare around the hotel room with a tired sense of shock. When first assigned her mission in Kagutsutchi, it had been arranged for her to stay at the NOL Headquarters there, but staying there had gone out of the question. Noel sighed and stared to the clock, glaring the late hour at her in an accusing red. A sharp cry escaped her lips and she was quickly spurred into action, tossing on her clothes and grabbing her hat off a shelf. She went over to the mirror in the corner and stared into her reflection.

"Good," she breathed, and, straightening the hem of her uniform, she started off. But a sudden call seemed to draw her back in front of the mirror, and, with one last glance to her frontal reflection, turned to the side. All traces of hurry evaporated from her mind, she stood for a long moment staring at her chest, first with a look of hope, and then ending with despair. She gave a soft, distressed wail, and grabbed her elbows. "Why do they have to be so small?" She pushed her arms against them, trying to give the appearance of size, but the effect was so minimal she soon gave up. Remembering all the times she had been teased about them, she whimpered. "Maybe I should have a boy massage them..." she murmured, remembering Makoto's words. "If you have a boy massage them, they'll get bigger," Noel repeated, feeling her face warm up. She shook her head. "No... I-it's not like I know anyone who would do... th-that, anyway!" At that last thought a scene popped into Noel's mind.

She was standing in the hallways of the NOL offices, her face slightly red and her heart beating fast. Specifically, she was standing in front of Major Jin Kisiragi, enduring his blank, if not slightly irritated stare. "M-major," she stammered in a high-pitched panicky tone, "Will you massage my breasts?"

Noel gave a glass-shattering screech, and her face turned an unhealthy dark-red. "Nonononono!" She covered her cheeks with her hands and shook her head violently. "H-how could I think something like that?" She shook her head again, as if it would rid the thoughts from her mind. A sudden call broke her out of her fervor.

"Noooo-eeel!" came Makoto's voice. "What are you doing? Come down!"

"Oh...! Ah, coming!" Noel tossed one last glance into the mirror and sighed. Still a little red. Rubbing her face she took off, stumbling down the stairs and out the door to her friend.

"Aw, Noel, are you gonna be like this tomorrow when we leave, too?" Makoto teased, staring at her flushed, startled friend.

"Huh? Tomorrow?" Noel gasped, dropping the hat she had yet to put on.

"Yeah, tomorrow." Makoto picked up Noel's hat and plopped it on the flustered girl's head. Noel wailed.

"Oooohhh, I thought that was today!"

Makoto laughed. "Well, we aren't going anywhere today, so c'mon, c'mon!" She grabbed Noel by the forearm and dragged her back inside, and once in the hotel room, flung herself onto the sofa. Makoto propped herself up on her elbows and stared around. "Gee, you can afford such a nice room? Being a lieutenant must be so nice!"

"Yeah, I guess." Noel responded halfheartedly. It wasn't. After all, if she weren't lieutenant, Tsubaki wouldn't have... Noel bet her lower lip. Makoto sat up and stared off in seemingly deep thought, and Noel sat beside her.

"Say, Noel. Is Jin still mean to you?"

"The... the major?" Noel hadn't really spoken to him since that day, when his brother... Noel looked away. It had pretty much been all her fault, hadn't it? "He must really hate me now."

Makoto put a consoling hand on her friend's shoulder. "Oh, I'm sorry... I should've known better than to aks questions like that." She paused. "But still, I wonder why he ever did start being like that to you."

"Well, I..." Noel shifted awkwardly under Makoto's hand. "Maybe it's because I always seem to be a hindrance to him." Noel sighed, thinking again back to the other day. "I wish I could have been more helpful. After all, I do really care about Major Kisiragi..." There was a beat of silence, and Noel gasped and blushed deeply. Makoto smirked. "Oh, no, no, no! N-not... I didn't mean it like that!"

Makoto laughed. "Oh, Noel, I had no idea you were in love!" she gasped dramatically, bouncing excitedly in her seat.

"I... I'm not!" In love? "H-how could I be...?" But the thought of being intimate with Jin did make her heart beat faster. And then there was that morning... _'No, that's only because I've never thought of doing those sorts of things with anyone before!' _Noel convinced herself, blushing more deeply.

"When Tsubaki hears this, she's gonna-" Makoto stopped abruptly, and there was a long, awkward silence, the playful atmosphere having evaporated.

After a while, Noel said, "I really don't like him that way."

Makoto brightened, but it seemed almost forced. "But you still said you care about him, right? So you don't want him to hate you, riiight?" She punctuated each sentence with a gentle poke to Noel's arm.

"I guess so..." Noel conceded, a little regretfully. She didn't really want to pursue the subject any futher.

"So then you should do something nice for him so he'll like you, or at least hate you slightly less!" Makoto, ever the optimist, began to bounce excitedly again.

"Something nice?" Noel paused to think. "Like giving him a present? But I have no idea what he likes..."

"Well, then, we'll think of something else. Let's see..." Makoto touched her cheek thoughtfully, and then began to bounce again. "Got it! Well, boys like it when girls give them sweets, right? So all you have to do is make some cookies and give them to him!"

Noel frowned. Sweets? It seemed like something they would do if they were still in the academy. But she suddenly brightened. "So that mean I get to make them, right?" A mixture of dull realization and horror washed over Makoto's face. "I love cooking! Makoto, you're a genius!" Noel gave Makoto a quick hug and skipped off to the room's kitchen.

"W-wait, Noel!" Makoto groaned and began to follow her friend. "Maybe we should just buy them! It'd be a lot faster!"

"But they'll mean a lot more if they're home made." There was a loud crash, and Noel squeaked. Makoto groaned again, starting to wish she hadn't pursued the subject. But as long as it was going to happen, Makoto felt she should at least try to make sure they weren't a complete disaster.

The sun hung low and red in the sky, turning the clouds a dusty orange at the Kagutsuchi Port. Street signs and lights were beginning to dutifully flick on and cast pale, harsh glows against the fading light. Noel sighed tiredly as she and Makoto sat down on a bench to rest. They hadn't realized until after baking that they had no idea where Jin would be, and, Makoto now wanting her efforts of keeping Noel's "skills" from influencing the cookies to go to waste, they had spent the entire day running around Kagutsuchi looking for him. "I didn't even realize how big this city was until now..." Noel murmured, playing with the clear plastic wrapping in her hands.

"I can't believe we didn't find him! Where could he have gone?" Makoto snatched the bag of abnormally large cookies from Noel's grasp. She always found herself getting nervous when her friend touched them, as if merely that would destroy them. She sighed. "I guess this was just a waste of time. Sorry, Noel."

"No, it wasn't! I had a lot of fun!" But Noel couldn't help but be just slightly disappointed that she hadn't been able to give the gift. She let her eyes stray over the area, drinking the view in, and then jumped. "Oh!" Noel grabbed Makoto's sleeve and pointed. "M-Makoto, look!" There was the man they had spent all day looking for, Jin Kisiragi, leaning on the rail and staring languidly at the sky.

"Oh my gosh, there he is!" Makoto sprang to her feet and dragged her friend up. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

Noel froze. The major's appearance only reminded her of all his cruel words and sent waves of doubt down her spine. "I don't think this is such a good idea anymore." She stepped backward.

"What? You can't chicken out now!" Makoto began to drag her friend toward the man.

"What if he gets mad? He hates me!" Noel shook her arm, trying to free herself from Makoto's grasp. "This really isn't a good idea..."

"Don't worry about it!" Makoto turned Noel to face her and held her at arm's length. After a moment of staring, she grabbed Noel's hat and wrenched it off her head. Noel squeaked in surprise. Makoto put it in her hands along with the bag. "What? You look so much cuter without it!" And with that Makoto thrust Noel a few yards from Jin and ducked behind a corner. Jin didn't even seem to notice Noel, who stood there awkwardly for a time, twisting her hat in her hands. She looked uncertainly back at her friend, who only grinned and flashed a thumbs up. Noel whimpered in absolute dread.

"Ah... Major?" she squeaked, instantly regretting it. Jin flipped about to face her and gasped sharply.

"You!" he spat, taking a step forward as if he was going to attack her, but he stopped shortly and began to rub his eyes with one hand, a motion that seemed to calm him. Noel spent the next few moment standing under Jin's... almost tired glare, drinking in all the pure agony the situation was giving her. And, further aggravating things, Noel couldn't help but be reminded of how similar this situation seemed to the daydream she had that morning. She bit her lower lip. If anything this would only make him hate her more. Why, why had she ever thought that this would be a good idea? "Well?" Jin prompted, shifting his gaze away from her. "What the hell do you want?"

Noel winced. "Oh." She took a deep breath to calm herself. "I, um, wanted to give you these..." She thrust forward the bag, face flushed and heart drumming in her chest. Despite her misgivings, she genuinely wanted a positive response. She wanted Jin to like her.

Jin stared at the bag, and then turned and leaned back on the rail. "Get out of my face."

Noel whimpered. "But, Major..." She gently touched her eyes. Why were they wet? "Please accept them, please!" A distant part of her refused to give up and she touched his shoulder. Jin jerked and swatted her wrist.

"Stay away from me! Why won't you just leave me alone already?" Noel flinched and quickly swiped her eyes. His tone stung along with his words. Why did it hurt so much? She wished she could just leave, but the same distant part forced her to stay.

"Major... Please stop saying that! I'm not trying to be an obstacle, Major, I just... I care about you!" She felt herself warm up at her words, but of course she had meant them. _'But, of course, he's just going to get angry... He'll just tell me to go away!'_ Jin took a step towards Noel, who winced expectantly.

"Noel..." Jin took the hat from Noel's hands. She looked up in surprise, giving a soft, confused "Huh?" before Jin, in one deft motion, swept up her hair and put on the hat. Ho looked into her eyes, and Noel saw his were tired, troubled. "Look, I don't need you to care about me. You've caused me enough trouble already, and I have more important things to do than deal with you."

"B-but Major, I want to help you! And I don't want you to hate me anymore!" At this Jin looked genuinely surprised.

"Hate you? Well..." Jin laughed bitterly, and gently put his hand on Noel's cheek, looking into her eyes again."It's not only because you look like her... right?" He seemed to be talking only to himself.

Noel was frozen by his touch; she could almost feel the skin of his fingers through his gloves, and the feeling of warmth running through her was positively unnerving. With a soft squeak, she shook her head slightly and the major's hand returned to is side. "I... I just..."

"Stop bothering me." He turned back to the rail, and Noel gaped at his back. The sun was now slowly sinking under the horizon, enveloping the bottom of the sky with a brilliant red. Noel's eyes were wet again, and she crunched the bag of cookies in her hands. She had no idea what to think.

Suddenly she said, "Major, just wait! One day... I'm going to make you like me!" Noel wiped her eyes and began to blush from embarrassment. _'Ooooh, why did I say that?'_ Regardless, she got no response. She scratched her head and stood there for another awkward moment. "So... Goodbye!" she said hastily before walking away.

"Wait, Noel." Jin put one arm around the girl, who cried out loudly in surprise, and tugged her into his chest. The back of Noel's head pressed into his chest, and she began to flail instinctually. "Stop squirming." Jin ordered, irritation having crept back into his voice. He took the bag from Noel's hand and sighed. "I'll accept them. Thank you," he said, blankly, releasing his hold. Noel attempted to stammer a response. A shadow of irritance crept into Jin's eyes.

"I-I'll see you! J-Jin!" she finally gasped. Heart pounding and face flushed for the umpteenth time that day, she ran off, almost unwanting to believe it. What would Makoto say? She shook her head wildly and closed her eyes, but still could not help but smile.

**A/N: Well, he'd probably just throw them away later, anyway. Haha, anyone notice how I so fail at romances? Why can't I get more serious than some hugging and stuff...? Well, maybe it's better that way. Because it would just seem forced. Even that conversation between the two seemed forced. Oh, wait just remembered something! So this was set after CS, but... There's no way it could take place then, but I was too lazy to think of another time to put it, sooo, just ignore my dumbness.**


End file.
